European investors raise exposure to Korean bond market

European investors led by Norway and Switzerland have increased their exposure to South Korean bonds as Korean debts are providing higher returns amid the economic recovery, data showed Monday.Investors from Norway held Korean won-denominated bonds worth5.4 trillion won ($5.25 billion) as of end-March, up 4.7 percent from the end of last year, according to the financial watchdog.Investors from Switzerland also saw their investment in Korean bonds reach 8.2 trillion won, up 16.1 percent from the

May 6, 2014

Financial consumer protection body delayed

The Park Geun-hye administration’s state agenda for setting up an independent board for financial consumer protection has faced a deadlock as the National Assembly chose not to pass the relevant bill during its plenary session in April, opting for further deliberation with government officials.The state-led plan, aimed at bolstering consumers’ rights in the financial market, is designed to split the consumer protection department from the Financial Supervisory Service.Policymakers had expected t

May 2, 2014

Asset prices needed to be considered in gauging potential GDP: report

The impact of asset prices and bank lending should be taken into account when calculating the potential economic growth as financial instability tends to amplify the depth of an economic crisis, a central bank report showed Friday.The report from the Bank of Korea said that there is the need to calculate the potential GDP by including financial factors such as asset prices and bank lending as the output gap could be miscalculated when inflation remains low.The output gap refers to the difference

May 2, 2014

Citibank Korea union set to stage strike

Unionists at Citibank Korea Inc., a local unit of U.S.-based Citigroup Inc., said Friday they are ready to go on strike to protest branch closures and restructuring plans by the bank management.The 3,200-member union voted earlier this week in favor of a walkout in an overwhelming majority of 91.6 percent. Their strike would be the first at a local bank in three years since the strike at the Standard Chartered Bank Korea in 2011 when unionists protested the introduction of a performance-based ma

May 2, 2014

Share of middle-income households decreases

The nation’s income gap appears to have widened, touching off concerns over a further thinning of the middle-income bracket, according to data from Statistics Korea on Thursday.The state-run Statistics Korea recently announced a research report on national income distribution calculated using the Wolfson Index, which is a barometer for income level of middle-income earners.The index climbed from 0.254 in 2011 to 0.256 in 2012. The Wolfson Index is a common measure of inequality in which a number

May 1, 2014

Korean banks’ net profit drops 25.3% in Q1

The combined earnings of South Korean banks fell 25.3 percent on-year in the first quarter on contracting interest income and profitability, the Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday.The combined net income of the 18 local banks stood at 1.3 trillion won ($1.26 billion) in the first three months of the year, compared with 1.7 trillion won the previous year, according to nation’s financial watchdog. The fall appeared to be on account of a falling interest rate income triggered by a long str

May 1, 2014

Workers at Korean state firms paid W67m

The Finance Ministry said Wednesday that the average annual salary for the staff at 304 state-controlled firms came to 67 million won ($63,800) in 2013, up 1.7 percent or 1.13 million won from the previous year.Heads of the public firms were paid 163 million won on average, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, it added.“The salary level stays above the average at firms such as the Korea Exchange, the Korea Securities Depository and the Korea Development Bank,” an official said. “Considering the u

April 30, 2014

Improvement in households’ financial health slow: BOK

Households’ debts are growing at a faster pace than income, delaying improvement in their financial health, South Korea’s central bank said Wednesday.The Bank of Korea said in a semi-annual financial stability report that South Korea could experience temporary volatility in cross-border capital flows as short-term foreign funds move in and out of the country due to the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing tapering.It added that the Fed’s tapering could have sizable impacts on companies’ credit

April 30, 2014

‘Mofia’ ban plan faces skepticism

Former high-ranking government officials should be banned from taking influential posts in financial companies, the government decided in the aftermath of the ferry sinking.But without an alternative plan, this sudden and restrictive measure may also cause side effects, such as a personnel vacuum or nonprofessionals taking key posts, observers pointed out.The government recently stated that former ranking officials of the Finance Ministry and the Financial Supervisory Service should be banned fr

April 29, 2014

Shinhan Financial overhauls to maximize profitability

Shinhan Financial Group is actively expanding its overseas business to diversify its profit-taking sources and benchmarking high-end skills in advanced markets under its vision to become the No. 1 first-tier financial services firm in Korea.Its renovation in a variety of segments over the past few years has been linked to marked profitability.In its regulatory filing on Tuesday, Shinhan Financial reported a net profit of 558.4 billion won ($531 million) during the first quarter, up 16.1 percent

April 29, 2014

Seoul shares slip 0.12% ahead of FOMC meeting

South Korean stocks finished 0.12 percent lower on Monday as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, having started in negative territory, gained some ground before losing steam to finish at 1,969.26, down a marginal 2.4 points from Friday’s close.Trading volume was light at 153.15 million shares worth 2.57 trillion won ($2.47 billion). Decline

April 28, 2014

Creditor KDB to use equity fund to acquire Dongbu Special Steel

The state-run Korea Development Bank decided to take over Dongbu Special Steel and Dongbu Steel’s Dangjin Port, two debt-ridden special function affiliates of Dongbu Group, officials said Monday.KDB and Dongbu Group on Friday agreed to establish a KDB-led private equity fund to acquire 100 percent of the two companies’ shares for 110 billion won ($106 million) and 150 billion won, respectively.It is expected that the PEF will kick off in May and the purchasing process will round off in June, but

April 28, 2014

Eximbank offers tailored guidance to Korean exporters with potential

Over the past few years, Korea has discovered a number of undervalued export-oriented companies, pinning hopes on the so-called hidden champions to of counterbalance the nation’s conglomerate-centered economy and creating new growth momentum.To achieve this long-term goal, it is crucial to provide continuous financial support to the prospective companies, the Export-Import Bank of Korea said Sunday.The state-run bank over the weekend held the Hidden Champion Academy, a two-day educational sessio

April 27, 2014

Korea fifth-largest supplier of high-tech goods to U.S.

South Korea was the fifth-largest supplier of high-tech goods to the United States in 2013, up two notches from the year before, a report by an international trade organization said Sunday.According to the Korea International Trade Association, locally manufactured goods made the top 10 list in seven of the 10 high-tech fields.The fields examined were broken down by the harmonized system code used to track products traded between countries and covered information technology, electronic parts, fl

April 27, 2014